Deerfield Manager Turns In His Keys To City Hall

Commission Voted Tuesday For Suspension

Deerfield Beach — In the end, it was the call for a deputy that spelled the beginning of the end for Larry Deetjen.

Vice Mayor Steve Gonot led the charge, presenting the newly elected commission with a resolution Tuesday requesting they suspend the longtime city manager amid allegations of inappropriate conduct.

While Mayor Al Capellini cast the lone dissenting vote, Gonot won the support of the three new faces on the commission: Pam Militello, Sylvia Poitier and Marty Popelsky.

Each said they recalled the previous commission meeting in which Gonot informed them that Deetjen had summoned a sheriff's deputy to throw him out of his office.

During that meeting, Deetjen defended his actions, saying he had only called for a deputy when Gonot refused to be civil.

"No other employee could call the cop on a supervisor," Poitier said Wednesday. "For me, that's bad."

"I, too, do not have trust in his critical thinking skills any more on how to handle situations," Militello said.

"That was the thing that clinched it for me," Popelsky said. "That is something you do not do, especially to your bosses."

All five commissioners said they were inundated with calls from residents Wednesday as news of Deetjen's suspension spread. Some were delighted, others upset.

Capellini said he was disturbed by the decision to suspend Deetjen. "Was it in the best interest of the city? I don't think so," he said. "It puts the city in chaos."

Deetjen, who declined comment, turned over his keys to City Hall on Wednesday morning. He has five days in which to request a public hearing. Should he do so, it would be held on May 17 at 7 p.m.

Under the terms of his contract, which expires in May 2007, Deetjen would receive an 18-month severance package worth more than $220,000. Deetjen has held the post since 1994.

Commissioners have named Vince Kendrick, director of parks and recreation, as acting city manager.

In a phone interview, Gonot said his troubles with Deetjen began when he objected to a developer's plan to sublease the city-owned pier to build a restaurant.

On Tuesday, Gonot presented each commissioner with a packet of documents aimed at persuading them in taking the first step to remove Deetjen.

The packet included a memo sent by Deetjen to the late Commissioner Amadeo "Trinchi" Trinchitella the day before he died in February.

In the memo, Deetjen tells Trinchitella his fellow commissioners had called to see how he was doing. "They all got you `dead and buried' Trinchi, but I know you'll outlast and outperform each and every one of them," Deetjen wrote.

Gonot said the memo shows Deetjen had no respect for the elected officials who serve as his bosses, then and now.

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sun-sentinel.com or 954-572-2028.